


The Birthday Party

by ronans



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Fluff, Grandparents & Grandchildren, M/M, Old Age, happy things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-03
Updated: 2015-04-03
Packaged: 2018-03-21 00:49:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3671385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ronans/pseuds/ronans
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yevgeny’s son’s having a birthday party, and of course his grandparents are going to be there.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Birthday Party

**Author's Note:**

> Grandpa Ian and Mickey is my absolute weakness sorry  
> This is a kind of future fic but also... not? I guess because I don't really know how to set it properly in the future so the gifts and stuff are current day... stuff... y'know?

Ian’s fingers are gentle as they thread the material around Mickey’s neck. Mickey lifts his hands up to lightly circle Ian’s wrists, but his grumpy glare is anything but soft.

‘I don’t get why we gotta wear fancy ass matching ties to a stupid kid’s party.’

Ian frowns and shakes his head. ‘Did you just call your grandson stupid?’

Mickey rolls his eyes and lets his arms drop to his sides. ‘No… Just that he’s not hosting a fucking _tie-wearing_ event. He’s six, he’s not gonna care if I’m wearing a neck strangler or not.’

‘Maybe I’m making you wear it because it’s nice to look nice for _Yevgeny_ ,’ Ian replies with his eyebrows raised. He starts to wind the tie around itself and Mickey’s not even going to fucking pretend he knows how it works, because he doesn’t, and Ian’s always there to tie his tie anyway.

‘Fine,’ Mickey sighs.

He knows exactly what Ian’s answering smile means. It means he’s thinking about how much of an old man Mickey is and how funny it is because he’s _always_ been one, so Mickey places his hand over Ian’s mouth before he can actually say that out loud. He can feel Ian’s grin grow under his palm. Ian takes his hand and presses a kiss to it that has Mickey smiling again.

‘We’re going to be late if you don’t let me finish tying this thing,’ Ian hums, returning to the task.

Mickey narrows his eyes from behind his glasses. ‘ _I_ didn’t even want to wear it!’

Ian tilts his head as he finishes with the tie, smoothing it against Mickey’s chest. ‘I think you look smart and handsome.’

‘Great,’ he sighs, fixing up Ian’s hair for him. It’s become thinner over the years and has lost almost all of its colour, but Mickey still loves to touch it.

‘You all ready? You have your jacke-‘

‘ _Yes_ , I have my jacket,’ Mickey sighs, grabbing it from where it’s slung over the arm of the chair. Ian turns around to look at himself in the bedroom mirror, righting his own tie. Mickey smirks at him, takes in the laugh lines on his face and the papery skin. He thinks Ian looks beautiful, always has done. ‘C’mon, we’ve gotta leave, you look amazing, alright?’ He figures Ian’s got to already know how he feels, but it doesn’t hurt to share it every now and then.

Ian’s smile is warm and Mickey wants to kiss it, but he knows he’ll just mess up Ian’s hair again if he tries to, because he can’t seem to _not_ card his fingers through Ian’s hair when he kisses him. That’s been a life-long thing that he’s never been able to shake. Ian grabs Mickey’s hand and leads him out of the room. Their house is all one floor because Ian’s joints aren’t doing so good, and fuck if Mickey’s going to put his smoke ruined lungs through walking up and down whole flights of stairs multiple times every day.

Ian then pauses to curse quietly. Mickey’s brow wrinkles and he rubs his thumb against the skin of Ian’s hand. ‘What?’

‘I forgot to call a cab. Damn, I knew I forgot something.’

Mickey mutters under his breath and rummages around in his pocket for his cell phone. ‘It’s fine, man, I can call Yev, he can come pick us up, it’ll be faster that way.’

‘But what about-‘

‘Cara’ll be able to watch the kids, okay? Ian, it’s fine,’ Mickey stresses, placing his phone against his ear. Yev picks up on the second ring and he already sounds entirely too panicked from being surrounded by a gaggle of candy filled five and six years olds.

‘ _Hey, Dad, uh, where are you guys? It’s gettin’ pretty hectic over here._ ’

Mickey chuckles and glances over at Ian who’s nervously tapping his foot. Mickey continues to try to soothe him with his hand movements. ‘Slight problem; Ian forgot to call a cab.’

‘ _Fu-fudgcicles_.’ Yev coughs and Mickey picks up on a loud shriek of a child. Why the fuck did grandparents have to be present at their grandchild’s birthday parties again? ‘ _So I guess you want me to pick you up?_ ’

‘If you could. I mean… you okay with leavin’ the-‘

‘ _Yes, god yes._ ’ Mickey hears Yev’s girlfriend hiss at him and he starts to laugh again. Meanwhile, Ian’s started to rub the back of his neck as he grows more anxious. Mickey never gets why Ian gets so nervous about shit like this. He supposes it’s because Yev and the rest of the family are so important to him.

‘Sound a little eager there, kid.’

Mickey hears Yevgeny shut a door and suddenly there’s a lot less background noise. ‘ _I’m fucking dying, I’m not kidding. There are twenty children running around… fucking up my stuff and-_ ‘

‘Alright, alright, I get it. I don’t think you understand how much of an asshole _you_ were at your parties, so I get where you’re coming from. Almost gave Ian a heart attack back when his heart was fuckin’ healthy.’ Mickey glances up to meet Ian’s glare and matching pout.

‘ _Yeah, okay. Anyway, I’m on my way over, should be about two minutes._ ’ Yev hangs up without a goodbye and Mickey smirks because neither of them have ever really been good at ending phone calls.

‘He’s okay? He’s coming over?’ Ian asks with his eyebrows raised. Mickey just nods and lets go of Ian’s hand to slip his arm around his waist and guide him to the living room to wait on the sofa.

Sure enough, it only takes around two minutes for Yev to arrive in his ridiculously old car that’s been on its last legs for about twelve years and has miraculously soldiered on. Mickey shakily pushes himself up from their couch and goes to let Yev in even though he’s got a key.

‘Okay, Cara says she’ll kill me if I don’t get back within ten minutes,’ Yev announces breathlessly. He stops suddenly and squints at his dads. ‘You guys look nice… You do get that this isn’t that kind of-‘

‘Yeah, we know. This guy insisted, though.’ Mickey loosely gestures to Ian who just shrugs and then adjusts Mickey’s tie again.

‘I said it’d just be nice to dress up for once. It’s a special occasion.’

‘ _Every_ occasion’s a special occasion to you,’ Mickey gripes, but he watches Ian fondly as he smoothes down the tie again.

Yevgeny points behind him at the door, dark eyebrows elevated. ‘We all ready to go?’

‘Shit, Jamie’s gift,’ Ian mutters, flicking his eyes around the living room to try and locate it. In the end it’s Yev who spots it.

‘I can’t believe you nearly left his present here. He’s only keeping you guys around because you spoil him,’ Yev titters, picking up the dinosaur paper wrapped box and holding it between his arm and his side.

‘Don’t we fucking know it,’ Mickey utters as they make their way out to Yev’s car. Yev gives Mickey a warning look.

‘I know you two try to be cool grandpas or whatever, but these kids are all way under thirteen. Keep the language PG, please,’ he says as he opens the trunk and places the gift inside.

Neither of the men answer as they decide to both sit in the backseat so they’re still together. Yevgeny just hides his smile at that and strolls around to the driver’s side. The ride’s quiet but it’s obvious Yev’s stress levels are ever rising as they get closer and closer to his house.

‘We don’t have to stay long, right?’ Mickey asks. Ian nudges his side but Mickey can see him smiling.

‘You’ve just gotta be here long enough to keep up friendly grandparent appearances,’ Yevgeny replies as they pull into the popped balloon littered driveway. ‘Mom, Aunt Mandy and Aunt Debbie are already in there.’

Before Ian and Mickey can even properly get out of the car, Jamie’s bounding down the porch steps and barrelling straight into Ian. Ian wheezes a little but ultimately chooses to mask it and wrap his arms around his grandson. Mickey subtly rubs his husband’s back from where he’s still stuck in the car.

‘Hey, Jamie.’

‘’Pa Ian! It’s my birthday today!’ he yells, obviously excited from being surrounded by his friends and an insane amount of sugar and presents.

‘Really? We’re just here because we got told there was cake,’ Ian responds, ruffling Jamie‘s hair.  Jamie grins up at him with his front teeth missing and yeah, he definitely inherited Yev and Mickey’s smile.

‘ _My_ birthday cake that Mom made.’ He lets go of Ian and swivels around to jab his finger at Yev’s girlfriend Cara who’s stood a little way back from the car. She waves and beams at them, walking over.

‘Still in the car,’ Mickey grumbles, pushing weakly at Ian’s back. Ian starts and turns around to help Mickey out of the car.

‘You okay, Dad?’ Yev asks, voice laced with concern and Mickey kinda hates that. He knows Ian hates it too because suddenly everyone’s constantly wary of them because they’re getting older.

‘I’m _fine_ ,’ he mutters, and, yeah, he probably sounds like an asshole, but whatever. He rights himself as soon as he gets out of the car, and is completely free for Jamie’s attack to turn to him.

‘Gran’pa Mickey, you look smart,’ he says before pulling Mickey into a hug. Jamie’s always been an affectionate little shit and Mickey can’t help but love it. It’s such a far cry from how Mickey was as a kid, and he’s just so fucking happy that Jamie’s had the opportunity to express this side of himself.

‘Thanks, bud, you do too, is that a new sweater?’ Mickey pulls at the material resting over Jamie’s shoulder as he nods overenthusiastically. ‘Your mom get you that?’ Another nod. ‘Well it looks great. Well done, Cara.’

‘Stop,’ Cara mumbles, walking fully up to Mickey and Ian and giving them each a one armed hug. They start towards the house, Jamie running on ahead with Yev hot on his tail, and Cara talking to them as they go. ‘Mandy’s making up another bowl of candy. I don’t even know where she’s getting them from.’

‘She’s resourceful like that,’ Ian says, grinning.

The noise hits them as soon as they open the front door, screaming children from all angles. Mickey’s thankful he turned Ian’s hearing aids down just before they left.

‘I think… yeah, Svetlana’s outside if you want to go and see her?’ Cara points to the sliding glass doors at the other end of the living room. ‘Oh, no, no, no, no, kids, you’re _not_ allowed to go upstairs!’ She rushes after the rogue children, leaving Ian and Mickey by the door.

They decide to not wait for Cara to return from her detour of Hell, and go to find Svetlana. She’s dressed about as smartly as Ian and Mickey and smoking a cigarette, cheeks hollowing with every pull on the filter.

‘Svet,’ Mickey greets as he pulls open the door. She jumps and then grips her chest, rolling her eyes and dropping her expression back to neutral when she sees who’d spoken.

‘Thought you were one of the god-awful children. Can’t take this much longer…’ She scowls out towards the garden.

‘It’s chaos in there,’ Ian says with a shudder.

‘Yes, well, you should have been here earlier. One child spit up over Cara’s pretty blouse.’ Svetlana mirrors Ian’s shudder and throws her cigarette to the ground, grinding it out with her boot heel. ‘I’m too old to deal with infants.’

‘They’re not _infants_ , just… highly strung out, slightly older sugar monsters…’ Ian smiles softly and squints at the weak sun.

‘Mandy and Debbie have helped but…’

‘Not really helped ‘cause these kids are nightmares?’ Mickey supplies. Svetlana nods and then exhales.

‘Better go inside. I’m running out of excuses. This is my fifth smoke break since I arrived half an hour ago.’

‘May your decrepit lungs live on,’ Mickey mutters, unfortunately finding himself staring longingly at the cigarette butt. Ian made him quit years ago, but the craving’s still there.

‘C’mon, let’s go see Debs. Heard she made some stuff for the kids?’ Ian places his hand on Mickey’s shoulder and gently tugs him back inside.

‘Ian! Mickey! I made cookies!’ Debbie floats into view almost immediately and, true to her word, has an armful of baked goods. ‘They’re all darlings, aren’t they?’ she sighs dreamily, looking around the room at the shrieking children who have now moved onto a pillow fight with Cara’s decorative sofa cushions.

Mickey wrinkles his nose at Debbie’s words but doesn’t comment. Ian hugs Debbie but stays wary of the batch of cookies.

‘Feels like I haven’t seen you in forever.’

‘I’m a very busy woman,’ Debbie replies. Ian pushes down a smile at his sister’s stern voice and drops his arm so it’s resting on the small of Mickey’s back. That’s a thing they do, almost constantly touch.

Mandy appears behind Debbie carrying two bowls of sweets and her tired face instantly lights up at the sight of her brother and brother-in-law.

‘Fucking finally, you guys made it.’ Mandy finds a table to put down the candy and then hugs Ian and Mickey much in the same way Cara had. When she releases them, she pats down the arms of their outfits and raises an eyebrow. ‘Very nice, boys. Now sit down on the couch; Jamie’s about to open his presents, apparently. Your old bones probably can’t take standing up throughout the whole thing.’

Mickey grumbles incoherently, but obeys Mandy’s orders, taking a seat with Ian and watching as his son and grandson enter the room. Mickey’s so fucking proud of the look on Yev’s face as he watches Jamie gather his gifts around him. It’s the kind of look Mickey finally got to express towards Yev some years down the line after his birth. He’s pretty sure he’d never have felt that way had Ian not helped him through it, nor if Svetlana hadn’t coldly ordered him to sort his shit out regarding his son. He’s really fucking grateful for that.

The kids quieten down for tiny intervals as they anticipate Jamie opening each gift, before they inevitably burst out with excitement as he brandishes each new item. A t-shirt here, a book there (because Jamie’s actually pretty interested in getting into reading for a kid his age). When he gets to the dinosaur covered gift, Ian takes Mickey’s hand and they look at each other smugly.

‘That’s from Grandpa Mickey and Grandpa Ian,’ Yev says as he crouches down next to his son. Mandy squeezes Mickey’s shoulder from where she’s stood directly behind him, and Ian then squeezes Mickey’s hand even harder. Basically it’s a lot of squeezing and that kind of shit makes Mickey feel damn fucking loved. His heart sort of swells as he watches his- his and _Ian_ ’ _s_ grandson tear open the wrapping paper.

‘It’s _remote control_? That’s awesome!’ Jamie bursts out as soon as he gets a glimpse of the packaging. Ian and Mickey know that his current obsession is with cars and dinosaurs, so they gave him the best of both; dinosaur wrapping paper and a remote control… Mickey can’t remember the brand of car, but he’d been told it was cool.

‘What is it?’ a bunch of Jamie’s friends ask as they gather more closely around him. Mickey smiles softly along with Ian, and it’s constantly so refreshing and wonderful to be the cause of their grandson’s happiness.

Yev shoots them a grateful smile and then nudges Jamie. ‘Hey, say thank you to your grandpas.’

‘Thank you!’ he shouts, positively beaming.

‘You’re welcome,’ Ian replies, grinning right back.

And it’s okay that Jamie’s already moved onto the next toy, because as they’re sat on the sofa surveying the party, Ian’s holding Mickey’s hand and they’re both surrounded by some of the absolute most important people in their lives.

**Author's Note:**

> [Hi, I'm on Tumblr](http://southsidemilkovich.tumblr.com)


End file.
